Research on Biomass Energy and Resource Utilization Technology

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental and Green Processes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2025 | Viewed by 1107

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Universidad Nacional, Av (Cra) 30 # 45-02, Bogota, Colombia
Interests: sustainable energy conversion processes; new technologies for sustainable biofuel production; chemical separation processes; biomass for energy generation; biomass transformation processes to obtain energy; evaluation of biomass pretreatments; the use of biomass components; modeling and simulation of chemical process; valorization of agricultural wastes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Mecánica, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota 111321, Colombia
Interests: renewable energy; energy efficiency; fuels

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The biomass pretreatment processes employed to prepare a sample for conversion and valorization processes improve energy consumption options and allow us to define methods for other products. The valorization of biomass waste is an option for generating clean energy and enables us to produce platform chemical compounds which many commercial products are derived from, and it also ensures the sustainability of the processes while preserving the environment. Process engineering gives us the conditions to ensure the production of renewable energy based on the use of agro-industrial waste through sustainable systems. Advances in energy systems focus on industrial processes in refineries, biorefineries and industrial-scale chemical plants. The technologies involved can vary from traditional systems that include natural gas, oil, and transportation fuels; biofuels; synthetic and alternative fuels such as alcohols, ethers, methyl esters of fatty acids; nuclear energy; fuel cells; renewable energies such as wind and solar; and energy storage technologies. Process evaluation is an important design component through modeling and simulation that facilitates the incorporation and details of unit operations for the scaling and development of processes, and it is one of the basic phases in the design of biomass transformation processes.

This Special Issue on “Research on Biomass Energy and Resource Utilization Technology” will present research innovations through the techniques of modeling and simulating biomass transformation processes as an important component of energy systems analysis or cost-effective processes for obtaining platform molecules for synthesizing value-added chemicals. To maximize scientific contribution, authors contributing to this Special Issue will be invited to deposit their innovative process results in the open access repository for engineering researchers and/or to provide supplementary material. These may include process simulation files, computer code, spreadsheets, model files, etc.

The research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Development of models or simulations of process units for the transformation of biomass into energy products.
  • Development of models or simulations of process systems for obtaining platform molecules.
  • Design, analysis, control, optimization, operation, planning or scheduling of energy production processes using models or simulations, such as techno-economic analysis, energy/exergy analysis, environmental or life cycle analysis, value and supply chain analysis.
  • Design of materials and operating conditions in continuous, semi-continuous, and continuous batch reactors.

Thanks for your participation in this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Carlos Alberto Guerrero-Fajardo
Prof. Dr. Fabio Emiro Sierra Vargas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • valorization technologies
  • processes simulation
  • pretreatment design
  • biorefinery
  • biomass valorization
  • energy processes
  • chemical analysis
  • software
  • design
  • process systems design

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 2508 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Thermochemical Conversion Processes for Antibiotic Residues: Insights from Life Cycle Assessment
by Jian Yang, Yulian Wei, Rui Ma, Hongzhi Ma, Biqin Dong and Ying Wang
Processes 2025, 13(4), 1139; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13041139 - 10 Apr 2025
Viewed by 306
Abstract
Life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to evaluate the environmental impacts and health risks associated with four thermochemical conversion technologies: incineration, gasification, pyrolytic liquefaction, and hydrothermal liquefaction. Results revealed that all processes yielded positive net environmental benefits (3.8–8.2 kg CO2-eq/kg AR [...] Read more.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to evaluate the environmental impacts and health risks associated with four thermochemical conversion technologies: incineration, gasification, pyrolytic liquefaction, and hydrothermal liquefaction. Results revealed that all processes yielded positive net environmental benefits (3.8–8.2 kg CO2-eq/kg AR reduction), with hydrothermal liquefaction exhibiting the lowest emissions (GWP-5.71 kg CO2-eq/kg). However, its widespread application has been hindered by process limitations, and enhancing catalytic efficiency has been identified as a critical area for future research. Incineration ranked second in terms of environmental benefits and remains the most favorable method according to existing studies. In contrast, gasification and pyrolytic liquefaction did not demonstrate significant environmental advantages, primarily due to the high energy consumption required for drying. Consequently, optimizing the drying process has been highlighted as a key focus for future research efforts. This study provided valuable insights for the safe disposal and resource recovery of antibiotic residue. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Biomass Energy and Resource Utilization Technology)
Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 8330 KiB  
Article
Study on the Influence of Reynolds Number on Heat Exchange Performance and Nusselt Number of Spray Coil Heat Exchanger
by Tianding Han, Qifei Li, Lin Shang, Xiangyu Chen, Feng Zhou and Wangxu Li
Processes 2025, 13(2), 588; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13020588 - 19 Feb 2025
Viewed by 562
Abstract
Biomass clean energy is widely used as an alternative to fossil fuels due to its advantages of low carbon emissions, cleanliness, and renewability. Biomass fuel exchangers are important equipment for heat exchange between air and exhaust gasses after biomass combustion, and the air [...] Read more.
Biomass clean energy is widely used as an alternative to fossil fuels due to its advantages of low carbon emissions, cleanliness, and renewability. Biomass fuel exchangers are important equipment for heat exchange between air and exhaust gasses after biomass combustion, and the air flow rate and structural characteristics of the exchanger have a significant impact on the heat transfer performance. In order to investigate the effect of Reynolds number on the heat transfer performance of the exchanger when air flows through, a serpentine tube heat exchange test bench was constructed, and numerical calculations were performed using the Realizable k-ε turbulence model for the entire channel. By changing the diameter and pitch of the serpentine tube, the effects of geometric parameters on the heat transfer performance were studied, and the flow characteristics of exhaust gasses and air inside the exchanger under various operating conditions were deduced. Subsequently, experimental validation was conducted by referring to the boundary conditions of numerical calculations, obtaining corresponding test data, and comparing the numerical and experimental results, showing that the errors in various physical quantities were within 5%. Through comprehensive analysis of the data, it was found that when the serpentine tube diameter is 80 mm and pitch is 300 mm, the Nusselt number (Nu) increased most significantly with Reynolds number (Re) by 25.17%, indicating the best heat transfer performance. Additionally, reducing tube diameter, increasing serpentine tube pitch, enlarging air-inlet flow velocity can enhance Re, increase fluid disturbance, and improve convective heat transfer intensity, thereby increasing Nu and strengthening the heat transfer performance of the serpentine tube exchanger. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Biomass Energy and Resource Utilization Technology)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop